Is Rams’ RB Set To Return Soon?

A major blow was dealt to fantasy football managers when Los Angeles Rams RB Kyren Williams suffered an ankle injury in Week 6. With Williams now having missed a couple of games, attention is turning towards when he may be able to return.

Let’s take a look at the latest injury update for Williams, when he will be able to return, and what his fantasy value looks like.

Latest Injury Update on Kyren Williams

The last we heard in regards to Williams was when Rams’ head coach Sean McVay told reporters that the hope was the RB would only miss the minimum expected time. “I hope so. It’s still a little bit early, but there was a debate on whether or not we were even going to do that with Kyren.”

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That would indicate that while Los Angeles felt the ankle injury was serious enough to warrant a stint on injured reserve, they felt the timeline would be close to that minimum window. Generally, that is the timeframe we see with high-ankle sprains, so it would make sense that a four or five-week absence would be the expectation.

We may not get an update now for a few weeks as Williams has only missed two of the mandatory four games he needs to be on the IR for. If we do get an update, it would likely be to report the bad news of a potential setback.

When Can Williams Return?

Williams will not be able to return until Week 12 of the 2023 NFL season. When he was placed on IR in Week 7, that mandated he must miss a minimum of four games. Unfortunately, in the middle of that is the Rams’ bye week, meaning that Williams will have to miss five weeks as opposed to four.

We have seen Williams miss two weeks so far. The third game will be in Week 9, and then the fourth in Week 11. That would put Williams on track to return against the Arizona Cardinals in Week 12. Subsequently, he’ll have the potential to play in seven games, six of which are fantasy-relevant in most leagues.

The caveat with the potential return from any injury is that the player has to be cleared medically. Therefore, we would need to see if Williams is cleared ahead of that return to be sure he will be back. That indication should come from either McVay himself or when Williams is designated to return to practice, opening a 21-day window to put him back on the 53-man roster.

Williams’ Fantasy Value For 2023

It’s tough to know what the landscape of Los Angeles’ RB room will look like when Williams returns. Darrell Henderson and Royce Freeman have both done a solid job in the last two weeks with Williams out. If that continues, there is a decent chance that Williams could return in a committee situation.

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However, that is three weeks from now, and things can change drastically. The Rams lost both of their starting RBs in a single game in Week 6, so it’s more than possible that one of Henderson or Freeman could be out of the picture by Week 12.

At this stage, Williams is a player you could consider trading if you need help now. Chances are the perception of his value is still that he will be the starter when he returns. We don’t know exactly what the picture will look like, so if someone is willing to give you starting-level value for Williams now, it is certainly worth considering.

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